STEINHAUER RACES TO SPRINT LEAD

One is the master of the par 3s, the other the master of the par 5s. One has spent the week mastering the putter, the other mastering the driver. Today, one hopes to be able to master the moment with a $180,000 winner's check at the Sprint Challenge.

For the moment, give the advantage to finesse over power. Sherri Steinhauer, who has played Indigo Lakes' par 3s in 7 under par, heads into the final round with a three-shot lead over Kelly Robbins, who has overpowered the par 5s in 12 under par.

Steinhauer broke away from the field Saturday with a 67, giving her a 13-under-par total of 203. Robbins followed with 70 to stand at 206. Friday's other two contenders, leader Trish Johnson and Michelle McGann, dropped back with 75 and 73, respectively and were replaced in the chase by Barb Bunkowsky, who shot 68 to stand five off the lead.

Steinhauer is having perhaps the best putting tournament of her nine-year career. She had seven birdies Saturday, six on putts of 9 feet or longer. Punctuating her performance was a 25-footer at the 18th that came after she had butchered the short par-5 17th with a bogey, three-putting from 25 feet.

Throughout her career, Steinhauer has been a mediocre putter. This week, though, she has made putting a top priority. The payoff is obvious.

"I have a tendency to go out on the putting green and just start banging around, not really concentrating on what I'm doing," said Steinhauer, who has won once, the 1992 du Maurier.

"I'm trying now to go through some drills out there to really make me focus. I make it more like the putting pressure of an actual round. I make myself make a certain number of putts consecutively and get a certain number past the hole on the real long putts."

Robbins, meanwhile, has stayed in contention by way of her incredible driving length. She only made three birdies Saturday, but all three were on par-5 holes. She had one launch of 278 yards at the 17th, reaching the par-5 green with a 3-iron, and unleashed one at the No. 2 hole that an observer stepped off at 303 yards.

Her only bogey came at No. 13, when she failed to sink a 1 1/2 -foot putt.

Robbins, the LPGA's top-rated driver, said the par 5s have been her priority.

"I've been trying to really take advantage of them," Robbins said. "If I can keep the driver in play, I know that's a real advantage for me. On the par 4s, I have some short irons into the green."

Indigo Lakes is saturated with fairway bunkers, but Robbins has been able to ignore them because she blasts her drives beyond them.

"My ball rolls up next to them and she flies over them," Steinhauer said. "It really is a big advantage to her when she's hitting wedges into greens while I'm hitting a 6-iron."

Robbins, not overly large at 5 feet 9, generates her power with very active hands.

"I generate a lot of clubhead speed because God gave me very quick hands," she said. "I really don't swing that hard, but I move the clubhead."

She said her father was a major factor in learning to hit big drives. "He always said, 'Hit it hard! We'll worry about finding it later,"' Robbins said.

Steinhauer is a bit uncomfortable starting the day with the lead. She recalls watching the Greensboro PGA event last week and seeing Mike Springer, the eventual winner, play Sunday in a similar situation.

"Now, here I'm going to be trying to win with a lead also," she said. "I know everyone is gunning for me. But I just want to wake up tomorrow like I woke up today. I was so calm and relaxed.

"If the putts go in, great. If not, well, that's just the way it'll have to be."